[Free] Drive is a terrible movie. (Part 1)

The reason I'd like to talk about this movie is because somehow this film has received so much praise as an artistic, atmospheric, refreshingly intelligent and suspenseful film with a well-nuanced performance by the handsome Ryan Gosling. Supposedly, Drive is one of the most invigorating thrillers of the year and received 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  I can't help but wonder, was I watching the same film?

  I think the main gripe I have with Drive is that the overall story was unbelievable and unrealistic.  The film is well presented with its imagery, cool designer clothing, and plenty of gruesome/cliche horror scenes. Although Driver's story had the potential to be so much more.

Ryan Gosling plays our protagonist, a man of few words, and goes unnamed throughout the entire film.  We don't learn much about his character's background other than that he's a damn good driver.  The opening scene shows him driving through the city at night, picking up burglars from their latest heist and helping them escape from the police. All while this 80's retro themed neon pink cursive text pops up displaying opening credits. I immediately liked the direction the film was going, with the intro song "Nightcall" not surprisingly made by one of my favorite electronic musicians Kavinsky.  The opening scene also reminded me a lot like the opening for the movie Tron Legacy (Which I enjoyed) where Kevin Flynn played by Jeff Bridges, is seen cruising through a the city at night on his motorcycle and out maneuvering a police cop like a badass with music done by another electronic musician Daft Punk.  Not knowing what the film was about and based on the movie title, naturally I expected the rest of the film to have really cool car chase scenes like the one in the intro. However as the movie continued, Drive increasingly became more of a cheesy horror film with predictable swift deaths of almost every unexplained character with little to no dialogue involved.

The main character, portrayed by Ryan, displays a lack of emotion or was limited to only having three facial expressions throughout the entire movie being: charming smile, straight face, and slightly angrier eyebrows with yelling involved.  This is a big problem because despite how few expressions Ryan displays, people believe his performance playing the strong, silent type was adequate.  I believe the talent an actor has can be measured or determined by how great he/she can convey emotions through facial expressions which makes the story all more believable.  Often, directors who are casting important roles will mute audition tapes and see how well the actor can deliver lines based on those facial expressions. Somehow this man is able to attract his apartment neighbor, Irene played Carey Mulligan, and becomes a love interest after just couple of days of short interactions. EVEN THOUGH SHE'S MARRIED AND HAS A SON (I guess the marriage was in a downfall spiral considering the husband was in the slammer and accumulated  debt from "protection" money),  Irene still develops a romantic relationship with the Driver (protagonist) with barely any conversation or dialogue.